Childhood Vaccines May Go Into One Jab

A technology that could eventually see every childhood vaccine delivered in a single injection has been developed by US researchers.

Their one-shot solution stores the vaccine in microscopic capsules that release the initial dose and then boosters at specific times.

The approach has been shown to work in mouse studies, described in the journal Science.
The researchers say the technology could help patients around the world.

Childhood immunisations come with tears and screams. And there are a lot of them.

Diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, polio, Hib and hepatitis B at eight, 12 and 16 weeks.
Pneumococcal jab at eight weeks, 16 weeks and one year
Men B vaccine at eight weeks, 16 weeks and one year
Hib/Men C vaccine at one year
Measles, mumps and rubella at one year and three years and four months

A team at Massachusetts Institute of Technology has designed a new type of micro-particle that could combine everything into a single jab.

The particles look like miniature coffee cups that are filled with vaccine and then sealed with a lid.

Crucially, the design of the cups can be altered so they break down and spill their contents at just the right time.
One set of tests showed the contents could be released at exactly nine, 20 and 41 days after they were injected into mice.

Other particles that last for hundreds of days have also been developed, the researchers say.
The approach has not yet been tested on patients.